


Genesis

by raiast



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Adam!Will, Alternate Universe, Anal Sex (...from a snek), Bestiality, Eve!Alana, Hand Jobs (from a snek), Incredibly loose interpretation of biblical events, M/M, NSFW art embedded in fic, Serpent!Hannibal, Story of Creation (Biblical), i mean technically? it's Hannibal in serpent form, seriously it's like downright blasphemous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 18:07:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20661488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raiast/pseuds/raiast
Summary: From a kinkmeme prompt asking:Will is Adam and Alana is Eve. But instead of Alana eating the apple, Will gets seduced by Hannibal and has the first orgasm known to men.That part happens, but then the whole apple-eating thing happens too, along with a love story, because I'm stupidly Extra that way.





	Genesis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hedonistconstant](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedonistconstant/gifts).

> [nsfwgrantaire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nsfwgrantaire/pseuds/nsfwgrantaire) \- Thank you so much for the amazing prompt! It was a lot of fun to write and I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> [Mars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelladonnaWyck/pseuds/BelladonnaWyck) \- My Beta, my cheerleader, my plot bunny face-crammer, you are more than I could hope for!
> 
> [ishxallxgood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ishxallxgood/pseuds/Ishxallxgood) \- ETERNAL THANKS for making my dream of fan art for my fics come true. You gifting your time and talent unto me is such a blessing!
> 
> \---
> 
> This story is a (ridiculously loose, with MANY liberties taken!) retelling of the story of Creation. Part of the plot involves Hannibal (in serpent form) falling for and getting physical with Will. Please do not proceed if you feel these plot devices may offend you in any way. There are NSFW pics embedded in this fic, generously produced and donated by the lovely Ishxallxgood! Scroll with caution.

The thing about Eden, with all its plentiful, lush vegetation and peaceful, cohabitative wildlife and pleasant, moderate weather, was that it wasn’t exactly _ perfect, _even if it was meant to be.

At least, Hannibal didn’t think so.

It was missing something, something innate and primal. He was pleased to see a different sort of life come into being in the Garden, something that wasn’t bird or beast or insect or fish. It stood tall, on two legs rather than four, molded from dirt into supple flesh that was scarcely covered by fur the way the other beasts were. It was tall and pale and _ beautiful, _ and it was called Man.

Will, to be exact. At least, that was what the Almighty had referred to him as. Will, named for the free will given to this new fleshy species that no others before him, not even the angels, were able to wield. This was something that Hannibal himself was quite bitter over, and his initial reaction was to hate this new creature that the Almighty had created, had blessed in this way--it was the catalyst for the events that led to his Fall, after all. Hannibal wanted to despise Man and make him suffer as Hannibal himself had suffered.

But Will was wonderful, and the more Hannibal observed him, the more he found that hating the creature was a futile endeavor. All lithe, light-toned flesh, with startling blue eyes and wild, riotous brown curls adorning the top of his head. He did not bear the hide of the beasts with which he dwelled, but small, sparse patches of fur did make themselves known on his body; across the lower portion of his face, under his arms, lightly across his chest and along his groin, and sparse hair down his legs as well. His genitals were not _ entirely _ unlike the beasts that had come before him, but different enough that it intrigued Hannibal, drew him closer to watch the Man from the brush as he bathed in the river or hunted the smaller beasts in the garden for nourishment.

With the creation of Man had come Woman, a creature called Margot, who was similar to Will in stature, though a bit smaller, and occupied far too much of his time for Hannibal’s liking. Fortunately, it only took a scant few conversations with the Woman to convince her that she need not be beholden to the Man as the Almighty had intended, and before long she had fled the Garden, and Hannibal was free to observe Will at his leisure once again.

The Almighty had told Will to feast as he must upon the animals and vegetation, but expressly forbade him from eating from the Tree of Knowledge that stood tall and mighty in the middle of the Garden. Hannibal had watched with interest each day, slithering behind Will’s footsteps, unbeknownst to the Man himself, as he approached and admired the Tree from afar. Each day he strayed just a bit closer, once even close enough to brush a reverent finger--for that is what the protrusions at the end of his higher limbs were to be called, _ fingers_\--along the soft flesh of the ripe fruit hanging from the branches before he pulled away once more and sought other nourishment instead.

The Man--Will--was curious though, which served to pique Hannibal’s own curiosity as well. He found himself trailing after the Man day in and day out, always circling that Tree in the middle of the Garden, always skirting away before action was taken. He didn’t exactly mind that the Man was too shy to oppose his express direction to stay away from the Fruit, but he found himself wondering each day that they found themselves at the trunk of the great Tree if that may be the day that Will disobeyed, took Fruit and Knowledge for himself and damned the consequences of each.

He never did, though the day that he had grown bold enough to raise himself to the tips of his feet to sniff at one of the lower-hanging morsels was also the day that Will first spoke to him.

“Why do you follow me, creature, but never reveal yourself?” He did not sound upset over the fact, nor wary at all of being stalked. After all, there was no beast in the Garden that posed a threat to the Man. Plant and meat-eaters alike lived in peace with Will, either keeping to themselves or approaching him with curiosity more than hostility.

Hannibal had heard Will speak before, to the other creatures in the Garden as he named them for what they were, heard him, occasionally, speaking with the Almighty. His voice never sounded as beautiful as it did when it was directed at Hannibal. 

“Why do you approach the Tree each day and still deny yourself its Fruit?” Hannibal asked in response, slithering out from the brush into the clearing so that the two of them might finally face each other.

Hannibal wasn’t small in stature, exactly, but quite low to the ground, so even as he raised his upper body up into the air, Will had to crouch down on his haunches to bring them face to face. His blue eyes flashed, inquisitive, as he cocked his head to the side. Some of his curls tumbled across his forehead to fall into his eyes with the action, but Will paid the obstruction no mind as he studied Hannibal with restrained fascination.

“Serpent,” he declared finally, and Hannibal dipped his narrow head in a nod.

“If you wish. You may also call me Hannibal,” he informed the Man.

Will’s head tipped in the opposite direction, brows crinkling together in question. “What is that?”

“It is a name.”

Will’s lips twisted with his confusion. “I’m supposed to name you,” he insisted.

“A creature may be called more than one thing. That is my true name. You are Man and Will, I am Serpent and Hannibal.”

“_Han_nibal,” Will repeated, drawing out the first foreign syllable on his tongue. Hannibal had to admit that he liked the way it sounded. “Why did you hide?” He repeated after a moment.

“I wanted to observe you,” Hannibal admitted. “To see what you do when no one watches.”

“But you were watching,” the beautiful Man pointed out stubbornly; even so, his tone was not argumentative.

“I did not know you were aware,” Hannibal conceded. “Now that I have answered your question, will you answer my own?”

Will blinked at him for a moment before extending one of his arms toward him. Hannibal considered it with surprise, hesitant until Will gave his arm an insistent jerk. “It will be easier to converse if we aren’t so far apart,” he informed Hannibal. And with his permission, Hannibal reached forward and coiled himself around Will’s forearm, slinking upwards toward his shoulder. When he felt that Hannibal had a solid grasp on him, Will stood.

Will’s skin was soft, a pleasant slide against Hannibal’s scales, and as he twisted his way across the flesh, he felt a brief shiver judder through his host as the Man adjusted to the new sensation.

Hannibal slithered higher until he reached the top of Will’s arm and then spread across his upper back until his upper body rested upon the opposite shoulder and his head sat next to Will’s ear. His body was too long to rest solely upon the Man’s shoulders, even broad as they were, without wrapping himself around his neck a few times, so Hannibal opted to coil his tail thrice down Will’s upper arm to secure himself in place.

When he had settled, Will twisted his head to the side to peer at Hannibal from the corner of his eyes, his pink lips quirking into a bright smile. Hannibal could only give a contented hiss. “There we go,” Will murmured, and then he returned his gaze to the Tree next to them. “I’m not supposed to,” he answered at last. “Eat it,” he added for clarification, though Hannibal was well aware as to what Will was referring.

“Does that bother you?” Hannibal asked, adjusting the volume of his voice to account for their new proximity. He quite liked not having to strain himself to be heard, speaking all the way from the ground.

He rose and fell with Will’s shoulders at the question. “Not really. I was given free reign of the rest of the Garden. Seems a small price to pay, to avoid just one thing. I am curious though.”

“Curiosity can be sated,” Hannibal told him, “It can be quite satisfying to discover. I was curious about you, and now can say that I am quite satisfied with the result of having met you.”

He could see Will’s cheek dimple as he grinned again, even though he was still facing forward. “_I _ spoke to _ you,” _ Will reminded him, amusement gracing his lovely voice. “You were content to watch from afar.”

He couldn’t help but bristle slightly at the correction, and tightened the grasp of his tail around Will’s arm momentarily. “All the same,” he deflected, and Will’s answering chuckle sent a rumble of vibrations through him that were not entirely caused by his position against the Man’s flesh. He let his tongue dart out to scent the Man properly, now that he was finally close enough to do so, and received a huff from the Man in response.

“Did you just smell me?” he asked Hannibal, twisting his head once more and causing his ear to brush against Hannibal’s snout in the process; Will shivered again at the contact.

** **

“I wanted to learn your scent,” Hannibal told him. “I would like to know when you are close by me. Does that bother you?”

Will shrugged again and then turned away from the Tree, slipping out of the clearing and through the denser brush as he had every day since he was created. He took Hannibal to a corner of the Garden where one of the beasts he was particularly fond of roamed, crouching down on his haunches once again to greet the furry four-legged animal with fond petting around its head and ears and warm words.

“Wolf,” he told Hannibal, and then paused, considering as the wolf stretched its neck up to sniff curiously at the new creature draped around the Man. “He can have two names?” Will confirmed with him, and Hannibal assured him that he could. Will pet the beast a bit longer, scratching at his muzzle before proudly announcing, “Winston.” 

“A fine name,” Hannibal agreed.

He stayed with Will the rest of that day. The Man didn’t have much to say, but Hannibal enjoyed when they did speak, and otherwise felt quite content just to remain perched upon his shoulders in silence--height was a novel thing for Hannibal, normally only attained in a stationary fashion by slinking up into the trees. 

When night fell, Will showed Hannibal where he had fashioned a bed of soft grass to sleep upon. Will laid on his back beneath the stars, and Hannibal shifted into a slightly smaller form and coiled in a pile on the Man’s warm chest, his head tucked against Will’s neck where he could feel the blood rushing quickly just beneath his skin. It was a very pleasant and restful night, and it was then that Hannibal decided that he quite liked the Man, and that he would be happy to spend all of his days and nights just like that one.

It was only a few days later, however, that Hannibal was separated from Will. They had spent long days and nights together since their first meeting, but then one day, out of the blue, the Almighty plucked a rib from his Will and set it to dirt and created Woman. This surprised Hannibal greatly, since the first endeavor of that sort had ended so poorly, but he watched with curiosity regardless. Will did not remember his first wife, the Almighty having wiped her from his mind, and Hannibal wondered if this new Woman might end the same way.

She stood a head shorter than Will, her own creamy skin as pale as his, and had hair of brown like his as well, though hers was much longer, trailing down her back and around her shoulders to just barely cover the breasts that would feed their young, should the two mate. Her eyes were also the color of the sky, though when he looked upon them, Hannibal didn’t feel anything close to what he felt when he stared at Will.

Will named her Alana, and Hannibal watched with bitter jealousy from the brush as Will showed her around the Garden and educated her on all of the animals he had named. She smiled sweetly at him and held his hand as they stepped through the foliage, and when she let out a soft laugh, Will was quick to echo it. When night fell, Will took Alana to his bed of grass and they drifted to sleep curled against one another.

Hannibal slept alone on the cold ground, coiled in the brush on the outskirts of Will’s clearing, and decided that he hated Woman.

\---

Will had been pleasantly surprised when his Father had gifted another creature unto the Garden; one that looked like Will, but different. She was softer than him, to begin with, shorter, not as strong, and seemed to consist of a delicateness that Will himself did not possess. She was kind though, with a sweet smile, and Will quite enjoyed showing her around the Garden. At night, she laid with him in the grass, their limbs tangled together, the warmth of their combined body heat quite cozy in the cooler night air.

He couldn’t help but wonder where Hannibal had gone off to, however. Alana was good company, but Will found that he missed the familiar weight upon his chest as he drifted to sleep each night. He had sensed Hannibal nearby that first day, always just out of sight, watching Will with this new Woman with curiosity as he had once watched Will. But after that first night, he had slithered off somewhere else, no longer shadowing Will’s footsteps.

He missed him. He wished he could introduce him to Alana. Alana had never seen a serpent before, and Will was fairly certain that she would like him. He went so far as to actively search him out for a few days, even called out his name, but received no response.

It was one night, when more days had passed than Will had fingers since the creation of Alana, that Will lay sleepless in his grass bed. When the moon was at its highest point in the sky, Will decided that he would not find rest that evening. He pulled away from the Woman next to him, careful to extract his limbs without waking her, and left her to her slumber as he crept out of his clearing and into the dense line of trees.

The night was bright, the moon nearly at its largest shape and shining down to light his path so that he could step through the foliage easily. The Garden was still, mostly quiet but for the few animals and insects that burrowed away during the day and burst to life in the darkness. Will didn’t even realize he was heading toward the Tree of Knowledge until he was stepping into its clearing. Gone was his habit of visiting the Tree on a daily basis. Since Alana had joined him in the Garden, Will had been there only once, to show it to her and to explain to her that she must never eat the Fruit that it bore.

He wasn’t there long before the familiar feeling of eyes upon him sent a shiver down his back. More interestingly, he also became aware of a warmth pooling in his belly. He should have known he would find him there; should have thought to check sooner.

“Hannibal,” he spoke, his voice breaking the stillness of the night and sending something unseen skittering away through the brush to his right. He stepped toward the Tree, eyes scanning over that Forbidden Fruit as he waited for his companion to make himself known. “Hannibal,” he called again, a bit louder. 

He turned when he heard rustling behind him, the familiar sound of Hannibal’s body parting brush and grass as he crept closer. Will couldn’t have stopped the smile that spread across his face at the sight of the serpent even if he’d thought to try. In the darkness, he was barely visible in the grass, holding the slighter form that he usually had at night so that he could curl upon Will’s chest without crushing him with his weight. The tell tale crossing streaks of red gave him away though, glinting beautifully in the moonlight.

“There you are,” he murmured, squatting down and holding out his arm in offering. Hannibal did not ascend it, merely regarded it for a moment with a tip of his sharp head and then turned his bloody gaze upon Will’s face.

“Where is your Woman?” Hannibal’s voice was not the soft, rippling purr that Will remembered; it was sharp and clipped, and Will did not like it.

He could feel his face twisting, forehead wrinkling and mouth turning downwards in an expression that Will was not sure he had ever made before. “She’s not _ my _ Woman,” he pointed out, then added, “She’s sleeping.” His arm was still extended out for Hannibal, but the stubborn serpent didn’t seem interested in taking up his normal perch, so Will dropped it with a sigh. His thighs began to burn with the effort of hovering on his haunches, so he let himself drop fully to the ground, back pressed against the trunk of the great Tree behind him and legs spread and stretched out before him. “I have felt your absence,” he said softly. “I remember the moments you were stretched across my shoulders or coiled atop my chest and it feels strange that you are no longer there.”

To his relief, Hannibal decided to slither closer, invading the empty space between Will’s legs. He brushed against one and then decided to ascend, halting when he was perched at the top of Will’s left thigh, his body spread down the length of his leg. He butted his narrow head against Will’s torso and then let out a hissing sigh, “I have missed you as well.” 

The tip of Hannibal’s slim tail swished and dropped down to skim across the sensitive flesh of Will’s inner thigh. His breath caught in his chest at the sensation, a shiver that was not from coldness running through him. The warmth that had begun to build within his gut when he sensed Hannibal near had grown larger and warmer, extending down into his groin as his genitals twitched and began to swell. 

Hannibal’s slim tongue darted out of his maw to scent the air, brushing against Will’s belly in the process and sending yet another pulse of heat to his groin. “You are growing aroused,” he pointed out.

Will didn’t know what that meant. All he knew was that the thumping in his chest was growing stronger and faster, his chest itself feeling tighter as it expanded in smaller and quicker pulses. “I don’t know what that is,” he admitted, and he could swear that the expression on the serpent’s face--as much as it could express--was of surprise and, possibly, satisfaction.

“It means you are preparing to mate,” Hannibal explained. “Did this not happen with your Woman?”

Will shook his head, unable to express again that Alana was not _ his _ woman when Hannibal decided to ascend to Will’s shoulders after all. He slithered up Will’s front, his tail flicking out as he moved to brush across Will’s swelling member, and Will could only tilt his head back against the Tree and let loose a sound he had never before made. It was a whimper, he recognized distantly; he had heard other animals make that sound, when frightened or in pain.

Will was not frightened of Hannibal, and he most certainly was not in pain. The heat that had flared to life in his belly surged through the rest of him, to the very tips of his fingers and toes, bringing with it a brand new sensation that was almost like a buzzing tickle. It was foreign and bright and entirely pleasant, and Will instantly began to wonder as to what he needed to do to make it happen again. 

Hannibal looped himself around the back of Will’s neck, bringing his head next to Will’s ear just as he used to, but rather than finish drawing up to coil around Will’s arm, he let the rest of his smooth body trail down Will’s torso.

“You are beautiful,” Hannibal hummed in his ear, his tongue darting out once more to scent at Will’s neck. “I’ve alwayss thought ssso,” he hissed, and then his tail flicked out once more, brushing again across Will’s genitals and drawing out that whimper once again. “What’sss that, Will? You’ve been making a sssound…”

“Feels good,” Will panted, his eyes squeezed shut, fingers tightening in the grass at his sides. 

Hannibal dipped his head to press the tip of his snout below Will’s ear. “You don’t know what good feelss like, Will,” Hannibal assured him “Not yet.” And then he wrapped his tail around Will’s throbbing member and _ squeezed, _ and Will made another low, uncontrollable noise that he’d never before sounded. He cut it off, alarmed, but Hannibal was quick to hiss his encouragement. “Don’t ssstop,” he entreated, “Moan for me, Will.”

When he slid the coil of his body to grip Will’s hardness from root to tip and squeezed him gently once more, Will did not stop the sound that broke from his chest; Hannibal hissed his pleasure in hearing it. “H-Hannibal,” Will choked. “Oh, _ please--” _

“Pleassse what, Will? Pleassse continue?” Hannibal’s voice had dropped lower than usual, but Will could still hear the amusement laced within it.

“Yes--please, please…”

** **

Hannibal gave another hum and released his grip around Will. Will whimpered his displeasure at this development but Hannibal shushed him before slithering back down his chest; he descended head first from Will’s shoulder, the rest of his body dragging up the other side of his chest to follow. The sensation of Hannibal sliding both up and down the length of his torso simultaneously pulled another whimper from Will’s mouth. The tip of Hannibal’s tail brushing across the nape of his neck made him both shudder and moan. Hannibal settled into a coil upon the top of Will’s thigh.

Will’s genitals were completely engorged, his member fully erect and resting against his belly where it leaked fluid. He had pried his eyes open to watch Hannibal slither down him, and then stared in fascination at his body’s reaction to this new stimulus. He began to reach for himself, but Hannibal gave out a warning hiss.

“Pleassse. Allow me,” he requested, and then his tongue darted out again and slipped across the tip of him where the new fluid gathered. Will cried out again and Hannibal hummed with satisfaction.

He found himself sagging down against the bark behind him, rough but not unpleasant against his flesh--just one more sensation to add to those that were making his head spin. He slumped down until only his shoulders and head rested against the trunk, his legs spread with wanton invitation and his hips jumping up instinctively in small thrusts. Hannibal slithered across Will’s lap and wrapped around his hardness once again, not firm enough to squeeze as he had before but coiled tight enough to remind Will of his presence. His tail dipped down between Will’s legs, brushed against the testicles that hung heavy betwixt his legs and then further down to prod at his tight, puckered hole.

“_Oh--” _ Will choked again at the new sensation, found that his body had decided to cant his hips upward to allow Hannibal greater access to the area before he could even consider it. That deep heat pulsed fiercely in his belly again--_arousal, _ Hannibal had called it--and Will had to close his eyes once more as he panted in the cool night air. He was vaguely aware that a sheen of sweat had formed all across his skin; Will could not ever recall sweating once the sun went down. The beating in his chest burst against his rib cage so insistently that Will worried for a moment that it would break right through his skin.

And then the pointed tip of Hannibal’s cool, smooth tail slipped up inside of his body, and Will could not think of anything.

“Oh--Oh, _ Hannibal, yes--” _ he whimpered, at least he intended to; he was truly in no state to decipher if Hannibal could understand the strangled noises clawing their way out of his throat. His hands pawed at the earth around him, tearing up grass and digging furrows into the soil beneath as Will fought to obey Hannibal’s directive not to touch himself.

It was a foreign sensation, the feeling of being _ full _ down there, but not unpleasant. Hannibal’s tail almost seemed designed for it, slipping into him easily until his body grew thicker and stretched Will’s hole out around him by force. Just as he grew accustomed to the sensation, Hannibal withdrew, drawing a frustrated moan from Will--until he pushed back inside. He continued to move like that, thrusting himself in and out of Will, the rest of his body stubbornly still where it was wrapped around Will’s engorged member.

“It’s good, it’s good,” Will found himself moaning, his spine curving into an arch as Hannibal pressed ever deeper and hissed his agreement. 

And then Hannibal twisted his tail to press against something within Will, _ finally _ tightening his grip around Will’s hardness at the same time, and Will saw stars. Pleasure burned through him as his hardness pulsed, expelling more fluid to stripe across Will’s chest.

In the dark of the night, beneath the Tree of Knowledge at the center of the Garden, Man’s first orgasm stole Will’s words.

\---

Will was magnificent; pure curiosity and unbridled reactions. He came undone so beautifully for Hannibal. 

When it began, Hannibal had not planned on penetrating the Man. He had brushed his tail with calculated intention along the sensitive skin of Will’s inner thigh, against the cock that twitched with interest, intending to incense Will enough to create an aching need within him. He had thought it might be nice to watch the Man pleasure himself, but then he touched Will, felt the silky skin of the Man’s hard cock against his scales, and he knew that he would not be satisfied with merely watching.

So he coiled around him, the wraps of his body sliding teasingly against flesh, and when he tightened his grasp, Will moaned out--the most beautiful sound Hannibal had ever heard. Each time he scented the air around the trembling Man, he could taste the arousal dripping from his cock, and Hannibal knew that even stimulating him to completion this way would not be enough. He wanted to invade him, carve out a space within him that was only for Hannibal.

Slipping his tail into the Man was an interesting experience. He was warm and tight, clenching around Hannibal each time he quivered with longing. The glide out of him was not nearly as pleasing--it chafed his scales in the wrong direction and the night air felt uncomfortably cool as he lost Will’s heat. The sensations only added to the pleasure of sinking back into him, however, which also delivered more of those delicious moans into the air, and so Hannibal found himself quite content to thrust in and out of the Man for some time.

When his orgasm took him, Will cried out so loudly in the night that Hannibal mused that the very Heavens above them may split open. He continued to whimper and tremble afterwards, making a small grunting noise that sounded suspiciously like ‘no’ when Hannibal pulled out of him for the final time. 

Will slid the rest of the way off of the tree trunk to lie back flat on the ground, his chest heaving for air as his body pulsed with the lingering effects of his release. Hannibal slithered over him, sliding up his torso and pushing his tongue out to trail through the slick ropes of seed that had spattered across the Man’s chest. 

“You taste divine, Will,” Hannibal murmured, pleased that he seemed to be able to control his hissing a bit better now that the frantic energy of sexual build up around them had dissipated to the warm haze of afterglow.

“_That _ is what mating feels like?” He panted, incredulous, gave another soft moan when Hannibal told him yes and licked at another stripe across his belly. “I should show Alana,” he mused, breathless. “I think she would like that.”

Hannibal paused in his systematic cleansing of Will’s torso, rage and indignation flaring to life within him. His fangs itched, his mind nearly overcome with the sudden urge to _ bite _ that which had offended him. It took an immense amount of self-control for him to resist, to remind himself that Will did not even understand the concept of jealousy, did not yet know how completely he belonged to Hannibal.

_ Hannibal. _ No one else.

He did not deign to reply to that--merely hummed noncommittally--not that it mattered; Will was already yawning, his eyes slipping closed for longer and longer periods of time between each blink. Hannibal coiled atop his chest like he used to, dipping his head down to rest in the crook of Will’s shoulder and murmured soft words of praise that lulled him to sleep.

Curling up with Will again felt like coming home. His warmth, his scent, his solid chest beneath Hannibal’s body--he had missed it all terribly. It was a tempting notion, to slip into sleep with him once again, to wake as Will awoke with the morning sun cresting over the Garden walls and stretch out with the Man and begin his day with Will’s smile shining upon him.

It was tempting, but Hannibal had other matters to attend to. He had Will back for _ that _ night, but that Woman was still out in the Garden somewhere, waiting to pull Will away from him once again. He simply couldn’t allow that to happen. He wanted to destroy the Woman, cast her back into the dirt from whence she came, since it was clear that she would not be following in the footsteps of the one that came before her. 

He wanted to shed his scales for pale, smooth skin, sprout legs to stand on and arms with which to hold his Will and show the Man what it would feel like to mate with another of his ilk. _ Hannibal _ was to have that privilege, not this Alana. He longed to match Will’s form, so that their lips might press against one another’s, so that he could run agile fingers through the soft curls atop Will’s head, so that they could lay together, their bodies identical and tangled, their chests pressed together to feel the thumping of each other’s hearts.

But alas, Hannibal did not have such power in the Garden. The Almighty had bid him entrance, chosen the form in which he could reside in this place, and stripped him of every other power while he did. Well, almost every power. He may not be able to take life--or will the beasts of the Garden to do it for him--nor change form, beyond adjusting the size of his body, but he _ could _ still speak.

As it turned out, Hannibal’s tongue had always been his most formidable weapon.

He laid curled over Will, his head pressed against the pulse of his neck that had gradually slowed from its post-orgasm rabbit pace to the soft and steady beat of slumber, while he formulated a plan in his mind--and then two more alternatives, for Hannibal was nothing if not thorough. When he was certain that his Man was deep in sleep’s thrall, Hannibal gently removed himself from his perch atop him, careful not to let his tail brush against any sensitive flesh that would rouse him. He did not need to waste time slinking through the Garden in search of his quarry, for he knew already that he would find her where she had been every night since her creation.

She was still asleep, oblivious to her intended mate’s absence and how completely Hannibal had shaken him to pieces under the stars. He slithered up to her prone form, brushing against the bare skin of her back as he curled around the shape of her head on the ground, whispering her name. She was slow to rouse, appearing a tad confused at the darkness that still surrounded her. She blinked up at the sky, as if expecting the sun. Perhaps she had never awoken in the night before then.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position, twisting her head this way and that--looking for Will, in all likelihood. When she spotted Hannibal sprawled out on the ground beside her, he greeted her by name and she blinked in confusion again.

“Hello,” she replied slowly. “What are you?” She eyed his long body, the hand resting on her thigh twitching as though she wished to reach out and touch him.

“I am a serpent,” he informed her, and her features brightened at that, a smile spreading across her face. She really was quite pretty; it was a shame she needed to die.

“I have not seen one yet,” she admitted. “Are you Hannibal? Will has spoken many times of Hannibal the serpent.”

“I am,” he agreed. “I came to deliver a message.”

“From Will?” she perked at the notion. “Where is he?”

Hannibal reigned in the ever-growing desire to _ bite _ at the Woman’s obvious affection for his Will. He really must hasten things along--staying in the form of a beast was beginning to edge into his higher-functioning mind with all sorts of primal instincts. “From myself,” he corrected, fighting to keep his tone cordial. “I think it only right to let you know that Will has been contemplating eating from the Tree of Knowledge.”

Alana blinked at him, her lips twisting down. “Will said we must never. Our Father has forbidden it.”

Lacking anything more than the thin stretch of his serpent body, Hannibal couldn’t shrug. He dipped his head in his best approximation of one. “He doesn’t wish for you to eat the Fruit. It will grant him great knowledge, after all...knowledge that he does not believe you need.”

“If one has the knowledge, then we should both have it. We are meant to remain equal, together.” 

Hannibal was beginning to hear outrage creeping into her soft voice--he liked it. He gave a soft sigh and dipped his head once more. “I do not disagree. However…” When he was certain her attention was rapt, her eagerness to hear him speak weakening her mental defenses to his silver tongue, he continued. “I worry that if Will eats the Fruit before you, he will wield the power of the knowledge he gains to convince you it unnecessary that you consume it as well. He will be quite a bit more clever than you, then.”

He watched as her mind spun, turning the estimation over and over within. He could very nearly see the spark of recognition flare to life in her water blue eyes when she worked it out. “He’s not more clever than me right now,” she pointed out.

He gave a soft hum at her deduction. “What are you thinking?” he asked her, as though he needed to.

“If I eat the Fruit before Will does, he won’t be able to convince me not to.” She frowned then, chewed on her bottom lip as she glanced around the clearing. “Will only took me to the Tree once. I don’t remember where to find it.”

“That is a problem,” Hannibal agreed. “I can show you the way.” When the Woman nodded in agreement, Hannibal was quick to ascend her arm. She startled at first, but he gave a soft hiss to hush her and she stilled as he slithered atop her. 

Her shoulders were not nearly as broad as Will’s were. Her frame was slight and Hannibal had a difficult time finding a comfortable position in which to perch atop her. That had never been a problem with Will--the two of them seemed to fit together perfectly. On the Woman, Hannibal had to not only twist his lower half down her arm, but also needed to loop once loosely around her neck. When she pushed herself to standing, she seemed to buckle slightly under the weight of him. Hannibal opted not to shift into his smaller form.

“Just this way,” he instructed, pointing his head to the left. The Woman followed his lead.

\---

Will was still asleep, stretched beneath the tree, when the two of them trekked into the clearing. 

The Woman stilled, turning accusing eyes upon the slumbering Man. “Has he already eaten the Fruit?” she asked Hannibal in a hushed voice.

“Impossible to say,” Hannibal responded. “Perhaps you should take some for yourself before he wakes.”

She crept across the ground, giving Will a wide berth as she approached the Tree. Her movements were slow, hesitant. When she reached up to one of the lower hanging Fruits and her splayed fingers brushed across its flesh she gasped, yanking her hand back as though she had been stung.

There was something to be said about a slow and steady seduction, but Hannibal found himself losing his patience as the Woman dallied. He slithered off of her shoulder and onto the low branch and wrapped his tail around the Fruit, plucking it from the branch and holding it out helpfully. “The sun rises,” he warned her in a soft hiss, and the Woman reached out and accepted the Fruit.

She held it in her hands for a moment, turning it over and over and letting her fingers run along the bright red object. Hannibal watched from his branch as her eyes darted to Will, who was beginning to stir, and then finally brought the Fruit up to her lips and wrapped her mouth around it. The flesh of the Fruit snapped crisply as she tore out a firm chunk, the juice of it running down her chin as she chewed.

Her eyes slipped closed, a soft moan pulled from her throat as she swallowed the sweet flesh.

“Alana!” 

Will had roused at last, it seemed. Hannibal slithered up higher into the Tree, far enough that he was out of sight but able still to listen to the words shared below him.

“What have you done?” Will asked; there was panic in his voice, and Hannibal disliked hearing it.

He heard another snap, presumably as the Woman took another bite, and then her voice, muffled with her full mouth. “I couldn’t let you eat it alone,” she informed him. “We are meant to be equals.”

“I haven’t eaten it!” Will insisted. “I was only--” he paused; Hannibal wondered if perhaps Will had finally noted his absence. “I was only sleeping.” 

_ Only sleeping. _ Hannibal fought the urge to scoff out loud. Indeed. He closed his eyes, imagining the pink color that might have flooded Will’s cheeks as he narrowly avoided blurting out what he had done that evening beneath the Tree. What he had gone there to do.

“Now you must,” she replied solemnly. “We can never be equals if my knowledge is greater than your own.”

“Father forbade us,” Will replied weakly; already Hannibal could hear the fight leaving him. He decided that he would quite like having Man on Earth. Man was a beautiful creature, fierce and fragile and so easy to manipulate. 

“Father loves us,” the Woman argued. “Surely he will forgive us this one mistake.”

“Mistake,” Will repeated softly.

“It means we didn’t mean to,” she explained. Hannibal could hear the rustling of branches as another Fruit was plucked from its limb. “And forgiving us makes it like it never happened.”

The Woman was almost as convincing as Hannibal, with the Fruit of Knowledge within her, but there was one word that she didn’t yet know--or hadn’t thought of at least.

Punishment.

Hannibal knew the Divine Grace of the Almighty’s love and forgiveness. He also knew the vengeful wrath of Their punishment. They may favor Man over the Angelic Host, blessing him with the gift of free will, but surely if Man and Angel could count themselves equals in anything it would be in bearing the burden of the Almighty’s fearsome wrath.

He waited in silence until the telltale _ snap _ sounded of Will biting into a piece of Fruit of his own, and then Hannibal smiled.

\---

It was astounding how quickly things could go Wrong--especially when you’ve only just discovered the concept of such a thing.

Will knew that something was Wrong as soon as he swallowed his bite of the Forbidden Fruit. Alana had her own lofty ideas about mistakes and forgiveness, but Will wasn’t so sure. He was filled with a kind of ache at his core, his stomach twisted and feeling heavy. It was a feeling that Will had never before experienced, and with the blessing from the Tree of Knowledge, he knew that it was called Doubt. He stared at the Fruit in his hands, blood red but for the white flesh that had been revealed when he sank his teeth into it.

Doubt was as unfamiliar as it was unwelcome, and Will longed for Hannibal to slither up his arm and rest on his shoulders so he could ask his friend how to make the feeling go away. He knew Hannibal would know, after all; Hannibal had always known much more than Will, understood much more.

He was distracted from his troubled thoughts by a startled gasp before him. Will glanced up to Alana, whose face was twisted into an expression of incredulous alarm as her arms wrapped protectively around her body. “Will, we are naked!” she pointed out, and though she looked ahead at him, her eyes were very clearly straining to maintain her gaze above his waist.

All at once, Doubt was replaced by Shame as Will’s own hands dropped the Fruit and moved to cover his genitals. Shame was a sharp emotion, making his body curl in on itself and his cheeks flame with heat. It was not like the pleasant heat of arousal, to be stoked until his body found rapture, but a sick fire that Will longed to put out quickly and pretend like it never existed. 

“We should cover ourselves,” he suggested in an awkward mumble.

It was when they were sat, sewing together the leaves of a fig tree that Hannibal appeared, sliding out of the brush and over to where they worked to inquire as to what they were doing.

“We are working to cover our flesh because we are naked,” Alana explained to him.

Will felt eyes upon him, and glanced up from the leaves in his lap, meeting Hannibal’s steady gaze. “I don’t mind,” Hannibal told him, and Will felt his face begin to burn once more and had to look away. He flinched when Hannibal shifted and brushed against him, but to his surprise, it was Alana’s arm that the serpent crept up.

Will stared at Hannibal, draped across Alana’s slim shoulders. He had to wrap his body around her neck _ and _ down her arm to fit, and Will felt something bitter twist inside him at the sight. His friend should be set upon Will’s own shoulders, where he’d always been before. Where he belonged. He wanted to reach out and touch him, to remind Hannibal how much he had enjoyed Will’s flesh the prior evening. Instead, he brought his focus back to the makeshift garment in his lap.

\---

The Almighty Father did not forgive them their mistakes. At least, they were not without consequences.

Their Father had come to the Garden to seek them out, and Will’s first instinct was to hide. They were found quickly, for it was not possible to _ truly _ hide from the Almighty, and when Will admitted to having eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, a darkness was cast over the Garden, though the sun was nowhere near its descent into evening.

They were told that they must leave the Garden, as a punishment for their disobedience. The Almighty charged Will with the curse of working the land to sow his own crops, so that all of his nourishment was earned by the sweat of his brow, rather than freely given as it had been in the Garden. To Alana, the Almighty vowed that she would experience great pains of labor with childbirth, and that she was to be beholden to Will, since it was she that convinced him to disobey the Almighty’s command.

There was another whole host of emotions that fled through Will, then. Shame, again, and Regret. Fear was the worst, making his stomach turn in such a way that he was concerned the fruit he had eaten that morning would come back up to be expelled from his mouth. Fear made his mind spin dizzily, made his legs feel weak as he and Alana walked to the East Gate of the Garden as they had been commanded. It was somewhat surprising to Will that it was not the punishment, nor the unknown that he feared, but that he would not see Hannibal again if he were to leave the Garden. The serpent had slithered back into the brush when the Almighty had come searching for them and Will hadn’t seen him since.

Relief struck through him when he spotted Hannibal at the East Gate, perched atop Winston and waiting for he and Alana.

“Have you come to say goodbye?” Will asked him; his throat felt so tight that it was difficult to speak. Goodbye was a new concept as well, one which, when applied to Hannibal, made Will’s chest ache and his eyes sting.

“We have come to join you,” Hannibal told him. “The Almighty will cast me out of the Garden as well, so I am leaving freely.”

“Hannibal,” the Almighty’s voice spoke then, startling them all with Their presence. “It is true that you must leave the Garden, but because you have tempted Man with your wicked tongue, I curse you to live and die among them on the earthly plane. You shall not have any form but that of Man, nor shall you bend existence to your will. Until your dying day you shall appear as Man and live the life to which you have damned them.”

“You damn them,” Hannibal pointed out obstinately. “I free them.”

The Holy Light that brightened the very air when the Almighty was present vanished, and at the same time Hannibal shuddered and twisted as his body convulsed, and he cried out in pain. He fell from his perch atop Winston and the Wolf yipped in surprise and bounded over to Will’s side.

His form shifted then, grew larger in a way that Will had seen before, and then far larger than that. And then he shivered as his tail split in two, and took the form of legs as his middle thickened and sprouted arms. He writhed against the dirt, gave a shout, and then clawed at the earth beneath him as his hands came into existence. His scales rippled, the rich, beautiful color of them fading to a fleshy pink. And then Hannibal stood before him as a man, covered in a sheen of sweat and panting, and Will’s mouth went dry.

He stood tall--taller than Will--with smooth skin like Will’s, though slightly darker in color. His body was broad, strong, laced with more fur than Will’s, especially across his chest. He stood naked, proud, and Will couldn’t stop his eyes from lingering at the now-man’s groin with interest; his cock was soft, but thick, and Will couldn’t help but wonder how big it might grow if he were to become aroused.

His face held the sharp, narrow features that his serpent form had held, severe but beautiful. His eyes were still red, though he had the round pupils of a man rather than the narrow slits of before. His hair was not quite as long as Will’s, nor did it hold curls the way his own did; it was straight, the color of sand, and looked so soft that Will had to actively press his hand against his thigh so that he did not reach out for him.

“H-Hannibal…” Will choked out weakly, for he was the most beautiful creature Will had seen since his creation and his heart ached for it.

Hannibal’s wide eyes darted to Will at the sound of his name; he straightened, jaw set tightly, and strode over to Will with purpose.

Will stood frozen as Hannibal advanced on him, stomach twisting and heart in his throat. And then the now-Man was before him, reaching forward to slide his fingers into Will’s curls, his other hand grasping his hip and hauling him forward--and then their mouths met, and Will forgot about Doubt and Fear and Regret and languished in the impossible _ rightness _ of Hannibal pressed against him.

His lips were soft, but insistent, molding over Will’s own as though they were designed to fit together; and then his tongue pressed forward, licking into Will’s mouth and behind his teeth to curl against his own, and Will could not stop the shuddering moan that rippled through him and pressed him ever closer to the Man before him.

A bark from Winston startled Will back into his own mind, awareness flooding through him once more that Alana and the Wolf were waiting for them so that they could all leave together. The four of them, exiled. Will had difficulty remembering why he had previously found the notion so troubling.

Hannibal smiled at him and Will returned it, slipping his hand into Hannibal’s larger one and twining their fingers together. “Let’s go home,” Will said softly, and Hannibal nodded.

They turned back toward the East Gate where Alana stood, arms folded across her body and mouth tilted down into a frown. She straightened as they approached her, however, and fell into step next to them without comment.

And then, together, they stepped out of the Garden.


End file.
